The crucial 50/50 was the fritz lee turnover on 70 mins when Van Der Flier got him off his feet and Gibson Park had his hands on the ball when Nigel blew for the Clermont penalty. It was a mess of a ruck and Nigel does like to see clean balls (sorry ). Jokes aside it was huge. In hindsight perhaps we should have kicked for terriotory at this time and put pressure on them in their half. In fairness Fritz Lee was awesome.

But it is a Clermont win. It is just an as great experience as RDS 2010 or Bordeaux 2012. I am just happier and you can understand why, as I was desappointed but not sad the two others times.Those european games are always amazing.

The crucial 50/50 was the fritz lee turnover on 70 mins when Van Der Flier got him off his feet and Gibson Park had his hands on the ball when Nigel blew for the Clermont penalty. It was a mess of a ruck and Nigel does like to see clean balls (sorry ). Jokes aside it was huge. In hindsight perhaps we should have kicked for terriotory at this time and put pressure on them in their half. In fairness Fritz Lee was awesome.

Totally agree. That was the big BAD call when Fritz Lee never released Ringrose in the tackle, was cleared out by Josh who was then driven over the tackle by Cronin. Nigel made a terrible call because of the enormous crowd reaction - not the first ref to do so - then pointed at Josh and said "beyond the ball". Poor call.

But it is a Clermont win. It is just an as great experience as RDS 2010 or Bordeaux 2012. I am just happier and you can understand why, as I was desappointed but not sad the two others times.Those european games are always amazing.

Hope to see you very soon again.

Au revoir.

Hey VGE, speaking for myself your posts are always welcome. Well done on the win and best of luck v Sarries.

Here's to this year your beloved Clermont lifting the ERCC.

the irony being that ad-hominen and appeal to majority are the most often used defences of the apologist.

Dexter wrote:Noticed that, the Leinster Media Training Override kicked in just in time. I now hate seeing Nige reffing any games involving Leinster or Ireland, not because his officiating is an issue, but there always seems to be at least one contentious game-changing moment which goes against us for some reason.

You couldn't really argue with any of Nigel's big decisions, but we didn't get the 'rub of the green' from him on Sunday. I expect that Sexton will have been particularly irked by the demand that he complete his last penalty kick within a timed minute! This at a time when the Clermont players were blowing through their holes and were seeking to slow the game down blatantly for most of the second half.

Yeah, it's irrational I know, but I'd much rather have another ref, like...........

Dexter wrote:Noticed that, the Leinster Media Training Override kicked in just in time. I now hate seeing Nige reffing any games involving Leinster or Ireland, not because his officiating is an issue, but there always seems to be at least one contentious game-changing moment which goes against us for some reason.

You couldn't really argue with any of Nigel's big decisions, but we didn't get the 'rub of the green' from him on Sunday. I expect that Sexton will have been particularly irked by the demand that he complete his last penalty kick within a timed minute! This at a time when the Clermont players were blowing through their holes and were seeking to slow the game down blatantly for most of the second half.

Yeah, it's irrational I know, but I'd much rather have another ref, like...........

But it is a Clermont win. It is just an as great experience as RDS 2010 or Bordeaux 2012. I am just happier and you can understand why, as I was desappointed but not sad the two others times.Those european games are always amazing.

Hope to see you very soon again.

Au revoir.

As a leinster fan sitting in the clermont section on sunday....your fellow fans were brilliant. The atmosphere you create is special and I so hope you go on and beat saracens in the final.

Dexter wrote:Noticed that, the Leinster Media Training Override kicked in just in time. I now hate seeing Nige reffing any games involving Leinster or Ireland, not because his officiating is an issue, but there always seems to be at least one contentious game-changing moment which goes against us for some reason.

You couldn't really argue with any of Nigel's big decisions, but we didn't get the 'rub of the green' from him on Sunday. I expect that Sexton will have been particularly irked by the demand that he complete his last penalty kick within a timed minute! This at a time when the Clermont players were blowing through their holes and were seeking to slow the game down blatantly for most of the second half.

Yeah, it's irrational I know, but I'd much rather have another ref, like...........

eh.......

OK Nige is fine

Funnily enough I think the best ref to get for an away European match like that is Poite (I wonder what the Saracens supporters think). Don't get me wrong it's not that I think he's a brilliant ref or anything, I just feel he is seldom influenced by the crowd. In fact he seems so arrogant that the more abuse he gets from the crowd the more he goes against them

But it is a Clermont win. It is just an as great experience as RDS 2010 or Bordeaux 2012. I am just happier and you can understand why, as I was desappointed but not sad the two others times.Those european games are always amazing.

Hope to see you very soon again.

Au revoir.

Well done to Clermont VGE. You deserved the win on Sunday for your blistering start that we didn't deal with well (or at all). Your fans are amazing - I implore you and every one who was at the game on Sunday to make the effort to get to Edinburgh. You need to make it another home game for ASM.

On another day in another venue I would like to think that Leinster might have beaten you again but it wasn't to be. Best of luck in the Final.

The crucial 50/50 was the fritz lee turnover on 70 mins when Van Der Flier got him off his feet and Gibson Park had his hands on the ball when Nigel blew for the Clermont penalty. It was a mess of a ruck and Nigel does like to see clean balls (sorry ). Jokes aside it was huge. In hindsight perhaps we should have kicked for terriotory at this time and put pressure on them in their half. In fairness Fritz Lee was awesome.

Totally agree. That was the big BAD call when Fritz Lee never released Ringrose in the tackle, was cleared out by Josh who was then driven over the tackle by Cronin. Nigel made a terrible call because of the enormous crowd reaction - not the first ref to do so - then pointed at Josh and said "beyond the ball". Poor call.

It was just a mess of a ruck. It could have gone our way or probably the best call was to just play on. Every player involved in that ruck was guilty of doing something illegal!

I do hope Clermont beat the Orcs in the final but can't see it happening. Their fans are great but some people are getting a bit carried away with Clermont and somehow see them as a plucky small town club triumphing against the odds. Clermont is a big budget club bankrolled by Michelin and splash the cash like most other big budget clubs in France and England.

But it is a Clermont win. It is just an as great experience as RDS 2010 or Bordeaux 2012. I am just happier and you can understand why, as I was desappointed but not sad the two others times.Those european games are always amazing.

Hope to see you very soon again.

Au revoir.

Well done to Clermont VGE. You deserved the win on Sunday for your blistering start that we didn't deal with well (or at all). Your fans are amazing - I implore you and every one who was at the game on Sunday to make the effort to get to Edinburgh. You need to make it another home game for ASM.

On another day in another venue I would like to think that Leinster might have beaten you again but it wasn't to be. Best of luck in the Final.

One final request - can you change that avatar please?

I think that will will be 2000 or 3000 to the final, not more. So we need everybody's help to face the Sarries Everest.

My avatar? Let me try to explain: it was in december 2010 at Bewley Hotel at Dublin airport when we were stuck after Leinster/ASM. A Christmas hat, a Guinness boxer, a shirt and socks typically Irish. Why do you want me to change it?

I think that will will be 2000 or 3000 to the final, not more. So we need everybody's help to face the Sarries Everest.

My avatar? Let me try to explain: it was in december 2010 at Bewley Hotel at Dublin airport when we were stuck after Leinster/ASM. A Christmas hat, a Guinness boxer, a shirt and socks typically Irish. Why do you want me to change it?

Au revoir.

Your physique is man-shaming about 90% of the fatties on this board (not me obviously, I'm buff).

"That was shiterarse coaches need to look at themselves this is as bad at is.beem with school. Items impeovrnkyb neefedc"

I think that will will be 2000 or 3000 to the final, not more. So we need everybody's help to face the Sarries Everest.

My avatar? Let me try to explain: it was in december 2010 at Bewley Hotel at Dublin airport when we were stuck after Leinster/ASM. A Christmas hat, a Guinness boxer, a shirt and socks typically Irish. Why do you want me to change it?

Au revoir.

Your physique is man-shaming about 90% of the fatties on this board (not me obviously, I'm buff).

Lol I promise to change as soon as Montferrand wins the Champions Cup or a second Brennus.

The penalty was for VDF going off his feet though. I felt he bound to Fritz first so was okay. And about 2 minutes later Clermont didn't exactly the same in the build up to their second DG and Nige left it go. Having watched the game back I was actually struck by just how many calls went against us but the same infringements from Clermont led to nothing. I hate seeing people give out about refs and hate doing it myself even more, but I can't help but feel that the officials on Sunday were poor at times. You'll always see the home team getting most of the 50/50 calls but some of the stuff was frustrating.

Either way I do think the scoreline reflected the teams on the day so I don't think it had a huge bearing on the result, it was just frustrating to watch some of it. Maybe it helped Clermont gain some momentum at times, but we should have been able to cope with that anyway.

Either way I do think the scoreline reflected the teams on the day so I don't think it had a huge bearing on the result, it was just frustrating to watch some of it. Maybe it helped Clermont gain some momentum at times, but we should have been able to cope with that anyway.

I disagree. Other than the the 1st 15 and the last 10, we were by far the more dangerous looking side. We had the better of the chances from 15 minutes on. If we had gained territory after Ringers try we would have scored again. That is why that ruck on 70 mins was so crucial. Fritz Lee was their best forward on the day but he was lucky to get that penalty...especially when you see it from the ground level camera; he holds on long after he is off his feet causing the Leinster players to panic and pile in......frustrating but that's rugby. I'm not blaming Nigel; we gave ourselves too much to do with the bad start.